Bon Voyage: Passport to the Francophone World

Bon Voyage: Passport to the Francophone World

by | Jun 16, 2025 | Craft Tutorials

Ready to take an imaginary trip around the French-speaking world? Our printable francophone world passport adds joy to the journey!

We suggest some possible ways to use the passport (but your own inspiration is totally okay too!). See our video for a preview of how to use the passport. The printable passport is available on Etsy.

FRENCH CLASSROOMS: If you have a classroom of students, students could be divided into groups and each group assigned a French-speaking country to research. Each group could then present their research to the class. When the presentations happen, the presenters could have the audience pretend to go through customs and “stamp” the passports (with our printable stickers that come with the passport printable) as they begin their presentation. Then the audience could take notes on the presentations in the appropriate passport pages.

HOMESCHOOLERS: If you are a homeschooling family (or a family who just loves to learn together), we suggest (see below) a Charlotte Mason-style feast of books that you can enjoy for 5 different countries in the French-speaking world. Before you begin each country, give your children time to write what they know and what they wonder about the country. Then give your child a passport “stamp” (stickers that come with the passport printable). As you read the books, children can narrate (with drawings or writing) some of the things they remember from the books in the “What I learned” page for each country. You can read as many (or as few) books as you like, and go at your own pace. Enjoy the journey!

FOR EVERYONE: To make your journey even sweeter, consider making a food from each country too. We suggest one food idea for each country. Movies could also add a lot of fun to the imaginary trip. I hesitate to suggest movies, but I am including some. Please do your own research to see if the movies are appropriate for your children before you show them.

Below is our suggested list of books, movies, and foods (with links). Bon voyage!

La France

There are so many lovely books about France, we found it hard to narrow down our suggestions. If you have other favorites, please use those as well. The books we chose have a Paris focus, while the movie takes place in the south of France. (Please use the links to find out more about the books, food, and movies.)

Non-fiction overview book:

France (Enchantment of the World series by Scholastic)

Picture books:

Madeline*

The Girl and the Cathedral: The Story of Notre-Dame de Paris

Kiki and Coco in Paris*

The Red Balloon*

*Click here for additional free activities related to these books in our post, Paris Picture Books.

Novels:

The Family Under the Bridge A heart-warming story about caring for others that also gives a window into the scenery of Paris.

Family Sabbatical   This book is laugh-out-loud hilarious! So much fun as a read aloud!

Food:

Crepes

Movie:

My Father’s Glory   One of my favorite movies, as I spent some of my college days in the south of France. The landscape is beautiful, and the story is endearing as well.

Le Canada (Québec)

 Our family has had the opportunity to travel to Quebec in the lovely summer months, but it’s probably no surprise that there are a number of picture books about Quebec in the winter months. (Please use the links to find out more about the books, food, and movies.)

Non-fiction overview book:

Canada (Enchantment of the World series from Scholastic)

Picture books:

F is for French: A Quebec Alphabet

The Sugaring-off Party

The Hockey Sweater

The Lion and the Bird  – This book is by a Quebecois author and tells the story of a lion who hosts an injured bird over the winter. Of course you would want to mention that lions don’t live in Quebec, but this books is so lovely, I had to include it in the list. (Our family has this book in French… it’s a great story for children learning French, as there are very few words.)

Novel:

Shadows on the Rock  – This book really brings to life Quebec in its early days. I’ve read it and listened to it more than once, and I would read it again!

Food:

Maple Syrup Taffy

Movies:

Blizzard  This movie uses Quebec City as the setting for the North Pole.

 

Le Sénégal (and other Francophone African countries)

Some of the books suggested here are for countries in French-speaking Africa, in addition to Senegal. (Please use the links to find out more about the books, food, and movies.) The novels we suggest here are quite intense, so please preview them to see if they appropriate for your family. 

Non-fiction overview book: 

Senegal (Enchantment of the World series by Scholastic)

Picture books: 

The Red Bicycle   My daughter was inspired to donate her bike to Bikes for the World after reading this sweet and inspiring story!

The Water Princess  We have free printable activities to accompany this story. Find them here.

Senegal: On the Way to School

Novels:

One Shadow on the Wall This novel has a sad beginning (parents dying) and tells the story of many difficulties faced by children in Senegal. The overarching message of the book is the love of family and community. However, parents should read this book before deciding if it might be appropriate for their older children (not appropriate for younger children). This book could provide an opportunity for great discussions on morals and facing difficult situations.

The Bitter Side of Sweet This novel, about slavery in cocoa production, tells a very important story. However, the violence is graphic and intense (I found I had to skim some parts), so it is definitely not a book for young children. Parents should read it before possibly considering sharing it with teens.

Food:

Chicken Yassa

Movie:

Kirikou – Back in my days as an au-pair in Paris, the kids were singing the song from this movie and it still rings in my head, “Kirikou n’est pas grand… mais c’est mon ami…” I have not watched the English version of the movie, but I imagine it still has catchy songs. The movie can be watched for free in French through archive.org.

 

La Polynésie française

Books that take place in French Polynesia seem to be hard to find, but hopefully these can provide a starting point. Some of the suggestions here are not specifically about French Polynesia, but Polynesian culture and geography in general. (Please use the links to find out more about the books, food, and movies.) If you are looking for books in French that take place in French Polynesia, we suggest looking for books at Lire en Polynésie .

Picture books:

Animals of Tahiti This book is simply contains photographs and names of animals in Tahiti, but my children said they enjoyed it.

The Swimmers: Paper cut-outs with Matisse  Matisse spent time in Tahiti, and his time there is said to have inspired the vibrant colors and shapes in his cut-outs. This book does not mention his time in Tahiti, but the reader could add in this information. The book gives directions for how to make cut-out art of your own.

The Brilliant Deep  This book is about the corals in Florida, but also about the need to save corals around the world. I am including it here, as there are beautiful corals surrounding Tahiti as well.

Novels:

Call it Courage  A Newberry Award classic. Be aware the story begins sadly with the death of the main character’s mom.

Treasure in Tahiti  This book is out of print, and we have not had the chance to read it, but we mention it as there are not many books about Tahiti available in English.

Food:

Tropical fruit inspired treats

Movie:

Moana or Moana 2  Animated Disney movies that show the island landscape of Polynesia.

 

La République d’Haïti

We found many sweet books about Haiti ! (Please use the links to find out more about the books, food, and movies.)

Non-fiction overview book:

Haiti (Enchantment of the World series by Scholastic)

Picture books:

Tap Tap

My Day with the Panye

Haiti: My Country

Freedom Soup

Novel:

Serafina’s Promise  This book is lovely and inspiring. It is written in the form of a long poem. Despite very difficult conditions, the story is full of faith and hope in the Lord. My girls (6 and 10) wanted me to keep reading it any time it was time to stop reading… “Just one more page, Mom?”

Food:

Soupe Joumou (Freedom Soup)

Movie:

Egalite for All: Toussaint L’ouverture and the Haitian Revolution  This in an informative documentary. I listened to it without watching it, as I can’t handle watching violence.

Ready to travel? You can find our Francophone World Passport in our Etsy shop. It’s an instant download, so you can print as many copies as you need for your family or your classes. Watch the videos below to learn how to assemble and use your passport. If the video images to not load, please use these links:

How to print and assemble the passport

How to use your passport to take an imaginary trip

 

Bon Voyage!

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

A Hug from Mary

A Hug from Mary

by | May 29, 2025 | Craft Tutorials

The past few months I’ve been reading Catholic Mom Calm by Sterling Jaquith. In this lovely book, the author suggests many ways to come back to calm in stressful situations, such as breathing, taking a walk, praying, and listening to calming music.

A few weeks ago, I was blessed to learn an additional way to come back to calm: asking for a hug from Mama Mary. In this month of May, a month to celebrate Saint Mary and all moms, I am sharing with you a little reflection on how I came to learn this beautiful way to come back to calm.

A Hug from Mary

I often think that anything good I do in my mothering is by the grace of God and by the beautiful example of Saint Mary and of my own sweet mom. As a child, my mom was always there for me, holding my hand when I did not feel good, listening for hours as I told her about all my concerns, giving me a look of love and compassion.

Last week when my parents happened to be visiting, my little six-year-old had a very rough night. She tends to have difficulty sleeping, and she often wakes up with what could be called night tantrums. She is really asleep, but she is having a temper tantrum, and perhaps a bad dream, at the same time.

As this was going on for quite some time, my dear mom got out of bed and came upstairs to see if she could help. I said she could pray, but that was probably all. We seem to just have to wait this out, and my daughter eventually fully wakes up and calms down.

Of course, my mom was happy to pray, but she also gave me a loving hug and said, “This is hard for you.” I responded, “No, this is hard for her.” That is what I always think, because my daughter is the one going through this terrible night tantrum, and that must be hard. My mom continued to hug me and said again, “This is hard for you.”

And I started to cry. Yes, I guess it is hard for me. Outwardly, I stay pretty calm through these storms, but my mind is actually full of worries. It’s hard to get up multiple times a night and wonder how to face the next day so tired. It’s hard to have your child cry out “Mama! Mama!” but she tells you to get away because she is not really awake and does not realize you are there. It’s hard to try to console your child, but nothing seems to work. It’s hard to worry the rest of your family will be mad that they are woken up by the tantrum too, because you feel like it is your responsibility to calm things down. It’s hard to wait to see the answers to prayer.

Later that night, my daughter calmed down (as she always eventually does). Then, before going back to bed, we cuddled together on the couch. We began to look at a beautiful book my parents had given us. In the book, there is an image of Mary greeting Elizabeth. Mary’s hands are gently on Elizabeth’s shoulders and Mary is giving her a look of love and calm.

Seeing this image of Mary made me think, “Mary is always there for us to give us a hug.” I was blessed that night to have a hug from my own mom in the middle of the night. We moms need hugs from our mom, and acknowledgements that we might not like to admit, “This is hard for you.” Normally, though, our own mom is probably not there in the middle of the night to give us a hug and sweet, reassuring words.

But Mama Mary, the very best mom, is truly always there for us. We can ask her for a hug in hard times, and she will surely give us one, any time of day or night, along with a look of love.

Mama Mary, pray for us!

If bringing calm to your mothering is something you hope for too, Catholic Mom Calm is a wonderful read!

The book my daughter and I looked at that night also brings calm: Our Father: Our Prayer of Hope. This coffee table worthy book is filled with beautiful reflections and art, including Ghirlandaio’s painting, The Visitation.

You may also like…

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Thank you for stopping by sparklesandsprinkles.blog today.

May God bless you abundantly today and every day.

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Peg Dolls for Holy Week and the Easter Season

Peg Dolls for Holy Week and the Easter Season

by | May 28, 2025 | Craft Tutorials

A number of years ago our family painted a few peg dolls for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Last year, as we were having our Seder meal on Holy Thursday, I thought, “It would be wonderful to have peg dolls for the Last Supper.”

It took me a year to get around to figuring out what they should look like. I wanted each of the Apostles to have a symbol to signify who they are. There are many possible symbols for each Apostle seen in iconography, statues, and paintings. We chose symbols for each Apostle for their simplicity for children and their connection to something memorable in the Apostle’s life. (Scroll down for a free PDF guide.)

This Holy Thursday we worked together as a family (including grandparents!) to create the peg dolls for the Last Supper scene. While given a specific symbol for each apostle, everyone was encouraged to choose their own colors and styles for the apostles they chose to paint. For the table, we are just using a simple block of wood. Perhaps we’ll paint some food on the table next year? (The book pages shown behind the peg dolls is The Easter Story by Brian Wildsmith.)

I’m so excited to share with you our ideas for the Last Supper peg dolls, but I’m even more excited to share another beautiful and unexpected joy…

All throughout the Easter season, the peg dolls have been on our dining room buffet, and our children play with them almost every day! This has truly become a way to naturally encourage the celebration of Easter all 50 days. When my children play with the peg dolls, the dolls talk of Jesus having risen from the dead, and it’s as if we can feel the Easter joy and excitement of that very first Easter, everyone abuzz of this joyful news! Seeing my children play with these Easter peg dolls makes me think we might want to add more, like the many different people in a French Santons de Provence scene at Christmastime.

Would you like to make a Last Supper peg doll set? We have a FREE printable for you with possible symbols for each Apostle. Use the symbols as a starting point, and use your own creativity to make them your own. I think children especially love to play with the dolls they have made themselves. Encourage each artist to choose his/her own style, clothing and hair color, etc.

Click on the image below for a link to the FREE PDF.

aplostle peg dolls

We also added Matthias to join the group in the Easter season. We chose two symbols for Matthias, a heart with a cross in it (as a reminder that Peter prayed, acknowledging that God knows everyone’s heart), and some sticks (to represent being chosen by casting lots).

 

“Then they prayed, ‘You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.’
Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.”
 – Acts 1:24-26

I used a permanent fine point pen to write the name and symbol of each Apostle on the bottom of each peg doll.

Wondering what supplies we used? We used 2 3/8  inch size peg dolls, Apple Barrel acrylic paint, and paint brushes in a variety of sizes. It’s also helpful to have toothpicks (for the eyes and other small details), paper towels (to dry the brushes), and a plastic table cloth to protect your work surface. Mod Podge is optional (but recommended) to protect the paint.

For more ideas on creating peg dolls for Holy Week and Easter, please visit our post, Homemade Easter Decorations that Last. Other peg dolls you may want for the Easter season include resurrected Jesus (showing the wounds in his hands and feet), Mary the Mother of God (we made her with happy smile and a heart), Mary Magdalene (with a jar of oil), Mary the mother of James, and some angels and soldiers.

If I had the woodworking skills, I would love to build an upper room as we near Pentecost. For now, we are building an upper room out of blocks.

Reading beautiful picture books helps to enrich understanding of the Easter story. Some of our favorites, which we like to place near the peg dolls, are The Easter Story by Brian Wildsmith, and The Holy Spirit and the Greatest Adventure by Gracie Jagla.

 

 

May God bless you in this Easter Season and always!

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Dried Flower Paper Eggs

Dried Flower Paper Eggs

by | May 2, 2025 | Craft Tutorials

Happy Easter!

We love to make Easter decorations that can be used year after year (see our post “Homemade Easter Decorations that Last” for more ideas), so we were thrilled to see this paper egg idea on Returning Grace Designs that inspired our Easter craft this year.

While it is possible to purchase dried flowers, we decided to save money by drying our own flowers (plus that means, we got to enjoy a vase of beautiful flowers on the counter… just one hydrangea bunch goes a long way in making dried flowers, and the rest are left to enjoy.) No need to fear drying flowers… it is super easy and can be done in the microwave in minutes. Our video tutorial will give you step-by-step instructions to make drying flowers a breeze + show you how to decorate your paper eggs. 

Ready to get started?

Gather your supplies…

  • paper eggs
  • Mod Podge
  • a paint brush
  • flowers (a fresh bunch from the store or garden or pre-dried flowers)
  • microwave, glass dish, and paper towels (if drying the flowers yourself)
  • wax paper or parchment paper (on which to place the eggs while the Mod Podge dries)

Let’s make some eggs…

You might also enjoy…

DIY Essential Oil Candles

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Read a lovely book about Audubon, then get outside and explore nature in French + a nature matching game.

Thanks for stopping by sparklesandsprinkles.blog today!

We wish you a joyful Easter season!

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Helping Children to hear God’s Voice

Helping Children to hear God’s Voice

by | Feb 9, 2025 | Craft Tutorials

I had the blessing this January of reading Hearing God’s Voice: A Catholic guide to listening prayer by Jonna Schuster.

I’m a cradle Catholic with a deep love for the Lord and my faith. I love to pray, but still, this book was able to add clarity and depth to my prayer life. (I will add, though, that I think this book would be loved by anyone who is open to God’s voice or is seeking for God, even if not Catholic. So if you are a reader of another faith, this book is still for you!)

Jonna’s book helps explain questions like, “Was that God speaking to me, or was that just me thinking that thought?” or “Why would God, who is so big, want to talk to me, who is so little?”

Jonna so beautifully explains how to listen well to God, and the overarching message in the book is that God loves us so much and wants to speak to us of his love. When I finished the book, I felt like I had been on a retreat, and my heart was so full of that message of God’s love… weeks after finishing the book, that deep message of love remains in my heart and mind.

As I read the book, I thought, “I wish I could have had this depth of understanding of hearing God’s voice my whole life, rather than waiting until now.”

I also kept thinking, “I really want to share the ideas in this book with my children!” So, I decided to create a worksheet for my children to help to share the main ideas in Jonna’s book. We had such a delightful time using this worksheet and talking about how we can hear God’s voice, that I decided to share this lesson idea on our blog, so that you can share these beautiful ideas with your children too.

Our printable worksheets and lesson plan ideas are available in our Etsy shop. They are designed for families and faith formation classes.

The printable worksheet has a heart image and the words “God is love” because the main message in the book is that God loves us so deeply and wants to share his love with us.
Once you, the parent or teacher, have read Hearing God’s Voice, you can print out any version of the Hearing God’s Voice heart printable you like, and then follow our ideas about sharing it with your children (or use it in a way that works for your family or class).
Inside of the heart are a number of words from the concepts in the book of the ways that we may “hear” God. I tried to select many key concepts from the book, while keeping it at a reasonable number of concepts for children. You’ll find after reading the book that talking about these concepts will come naturally.
You can certainly add other words into the heart that you find important. As you talk about the concepts with your children, you can also explain that the opposites of these words would not be ways that God speaks to us. For example, God is encouraging to us – He does NOT speak mean and discouraging words to us that make us feel bad about ourselves (those things are from the evil one).
My six-year-old, ten-year-old, and I did this Hearing God’s Voice lesson this past Sunday in place of our regular faith formation curriculum (Into the Deep, which is wonderful, by the way. Definitely check it out if you are looking for a lovely faith formation curriculum!). The lesson went really well, and we are so excited to share the idea with you! 
Here is what we did:
  • We started with the sign of the cross and an “Our Father” prayer.
  • Then I told my children, “Today we are going to be talking about listening to God.” I asked, “Can you tell me about how you hear God?” They thought for a bit, but they were not sure how to answer. I then rephrased the question as, “When do you feel closest to God?” They said, “When I pray,” and “When I’m at Mass.”
  • I then told them about this great book that I read about listening to God and that I wanted to share the ideas with them because there is no need to wait until being an adult to have a clearer understanding of how to listen to God.
  • I let them each pick a version of the heart picture that they liked best, and I gave them some colored pencils.
  • I let them take turns picking the words that we would talk about (in any order). Once they picked a word, they colored in the block letters while I shared with them about that concept. I shared information I remembered from the book, as well as my own life experiences. I asked them questions about how they might have experienced listening to God in that way, and they asked great questions too!
  • I had thought that we might only get through a few of the words and continue the lesson another time, but to my surprise, they were really into this and wanted to keep going and talk about all the words in one lesson! (If you do this lesson with your children, listen to their cues… no need to finish it all in one sitting.)
  • At the conclusion of the lesson, I wanted to include a song. I thought about picking one in advance, but instead, at the end of the lesson, I asked my children what song they thought of after our conversation about hearing God’s voice. They very quickly said, “Ooo child, don’t you know I love you?” (the song is actually called, “Just as you are” by Ryan Stevenson). I love it that they thought of that song, as that song really captures the essence of the message in the book… how much God loves us! We had such a joyful lesson, that we actually had a little dance party to that song… so fun! 

Would you like to get the heart worksheets and lesson plans? You can find them in our little Esty shop.

Yes, please, I want the printables!

Note: You can find the Hearing God’s Voice book on Amazon. Reading this book is essential before using this lesson plan.

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.